On the 7th, the KOSPI fell back below the 3,900 level two days after the 5th.
According to the Korea Exchange (KRX), as of 1:52 p.m. the KOSPI was trading at 3,893.34, down 33.11 points (3.31%) from the previous trading day. It is the first time in two trading days that the KOSPI has traded below the 3,900 level, since on the 5th (intraday 3,867.81).
All large-cap stocks by market capitalization on the main board were in the red. At the same time, Hanwha Aerospace was plunging nearly 7%, and SK hynix, Doosan Enerbility, and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries were down in the 4% range. Hyundai Motor (-3.35%), Samsung Electronics (-2.72%), LG Energy Solution (-2.45%), and KB Financial Group (-1.84%) were also falling.
At the same time, the KOSDAQ was also down 32.04 points (3.57%) at 866.13. It is the first time in 11 trading days that the KOSDAQ has fallen to the 860 level intraday, since on the 23rd of last month (868.74).
Among top KOSDAQ market-cap stocks, all were weak except Peptron (1.19%). HLB, EcoPro BM, EcoPro, and Rainbow Robotics were down 5% to 6%. Sam Chun Dang Pharm (-4.61%), Alteogen (-4.39%), ABL Bio (-3.93%), LigaChem Biosciences (-3.92%), and PharmaResearch (-2.23%) were also declining.
It is seen as the result of foreign and institutional investors showing selling in the domestic market amid the fallout from a sharp drop in U.S. stocks overnight on concerns about an "artificial intelligence (AI) bubble" and weak employment.
On the main board, foreigners and institutions were net sellers of 286.7 billion won and 23.9 billion won, respectively, and on the KOSDAQ they were net sellers of 47.3 billion won and 33.5 billion won. Only individuals were buying, snapping up stocks worth 324.8 billion won on the main board and 114.9 billion won on the KOSDAQ.
The weakness of the won against the U.S. dollar (won-dollar) also had a significant impact. At the same time, the won-dollar rate was trading at 1,456.7 won, up 7.4 won from the previous day.
Seo Sang-young, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities, said, "As the won-dollar rate topped 1,450 won and the won's weakness widened, investor sentiment deteriorated," and noted, "After a weak open on the back of the previous day's slump in AI-related stocks, the domestic market is going through a short-term supply-demand digestion process."
Seo added, "News that the Trump administration banned exports to China of Nvidia's lower-spec AI chips is also a drag," and said, "As declines widen across the large thematic stocks that had led the market, anxiety is growing."